Back op rules Roczen out of Nations team

Former world and American champ Ken Roczen is to have back surgery on August 31, ruling him out of the German team for the Motocross of Nations at Ernee in France on September 27. Roczen hurt his back at the Hangtown AMA National opener in May and has fought through the pain all season.

It was initially thought he'd opted not to ride for Team Germany because he wanted to do the same as his U.S. rival Ryan Dungey who decided not to make the trip to Europe, preferring to take some time off before starting Supercross preparations.

Germany, which won the event at Lommel in Belgium in 2012 with Roczen, Max Nagl and Marcus Schiffer, will this year field Nagl as team leader. The factory Husky ace, who led the world championship until he broke his leg in June, will be teamed up with Dennis Ullrich in the Open class and Henry Jacobi in MX2. Ullrich and Jacobi aren't top-level GP riders so it's unlikely Germany will win. Just getting through to the A final would be a decent result.